The Adventures of a Christian Mom, Grandma and cancer surviver!

It’s a beautiful day out there – sunny, slight breeze and supposed to get up to around 76 degrees – perfect for those who are planning outdoor activities. With that said, here’s more picnic/family gathering type recipes!

NOTE: If you would like to prepared
this in advance: prepare casserole,
cover & refrigerate up to 1 day before
baking. At time of baking, remove cover,
let casserole rest at room temperature
while oven heats, then bake as directed.

This was not a planned post, it just happened to fall on Mexico’s Fifth of May celebrations; “the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.” (during the Franco-Mexican War; quote from Google) Since most of us like (or love) SOME form of Mexican cuisine, I thought I’d post some tasty Mexican recipes for you today. (Mind you, these are NOT authentic – just simple & tasty)

Preheat oven 425 degrees F.
Pour contents of can into a oven-
proof dish; sprinkle top with some
kosher salt & tightly cover with foil.
Place covered dish in a larger roasting
or casserole pan – fill pan with water
until it reaches three-quarters up sides
of covered dish to create a water bath.
Place in oven 60-90 minutes, checking
every 30 minutes on water level & adding
more if needed. Dulche de Leche is ready
when it takes on a brown, caramel-like
appearance. Remove from oven & whisk to
smoothness. Let cool before using.

(note: one of people rating these
cookies stated that they taste
MUCH better after cooling – don’t
eat them warm)

(recipe: allrecipes.com)
=======================

It’s been a busy week so far – baby
sat grandson yesterday and will again
(for 2-3 hours) today. He’s really getting
much more social – loves to ‘talk’ to
his mobile or people. Yesterday was
also my very favorite rummage sale at
a very close local church (they used to
hold their sales twice a year but were
having trouble getting enough volunteers
so now they only do ONE a year – I’ve
been patiently waiting for this.) When
I got the request to babysit from 10:30-
5 yesterday I was (to say the least) not
very pleased and went about the house
grumbling to myself. Husband heard me
and volunteered: “What if I watched him
for about an hour while you went to the
sale?” That took some thinking but then
I agreed (after checking with the baby’s
parents). When 1:30 p.m. came I rushed
through the sale (having been there for
so many years I knew exactly where each
department was). Since our middle son
moved out, I perused (very quickly) the
furniture department and found a Papasan
chair covered in navy blue cloth – it even
folds up – for $5.00; grabbed that. Also
found a sweater & blouse for me – total
of my purchases $13.00. (Now I can also
say that, in previous years with MUCH
more time on my hands to look, I’ve
been known to come home with a
big BOX ‘o stuff – books, kitchen items,
clothes, etc. but being pressed for
time, I only hit those areas I knew
I could get through quickly.) I
managed to get back to my son’s
house in a total of 50 minutes!
When I left husband & grandson,
the baby was sleeping – when I came
in the house he was STILL sleeping!
YAY! Thank You, Lord! (I prayed on it,
that the baby would be easy on my
husband). Saturday there are TWO
Mom2Mom sales in our area, both
going at the same time. A “Mom2Mom”
sale is where a bunch of Moms/
Grandmas, etc. get together (usually
in a church or gym) to sell all things
pertaining to babies: clothes, toys,
furniture, etc. I am still looking for
a fold up highchair and relatively
simple baby walker. (Yes, I could
easily buy them new, but since
I won’t be using them constantly,
it makes more sense to my little
“Scottish heart” to buy them at
a reduced price! Nothing like a
jam-packed week to keep me going!
(In fact, earlier I asked my husband:
It IS Friday, isn’t it? It’s been such a
busy/crazy week I forgot what day
it was!).
Hope your week is shaping up
nicely – enjoy your day!
Hugs;
Pammie

I looked out today and saw our daffodils are blooming – YAY! Also, all around the area, lots of forsythia are blooming brightly – I love seeing the bright yellow – so cheery!

This has been a rather busy/hectic week (and it’s only Wednesday!) Yesterday (Tuesday) found me babysitting my 6 week old grandson for the day. He’s just coming into something I had not heard of before: The SIX WEEK Growth spurt! (read that – wants to drink CONSTANTLY!) Let’s just say he really kept this grandma hopping – for the first 1 1/2 hours I did nothing but heat up bottles, feed him/change diaper & repeat. Kept thinking: Come on, kid – take a NAP! Finally, after much trying, he did and I got about a 2 hour break (finished reading my book). He’s becoming more aware of things around him so I put him under his crib mobile for awhile and he was fascinated watching it go around while hearing various tunes from it’s music box. (He actually seemed to fancy certain songs over others – kicking his feet and cooing at the mobile during those songs). His Momma went back to work last Friday and will soon have a set schedule – then I’ll be better able to adjust my schedule accordingly.

(that dark spot on his shirt isn’t wet – it’s just a reflection)

6 weeks old, 12 lbs (he’s gotten so long that 3 month pants are too short on him – his Mom & Dad are both tall, so he’s taking after them!)

After babysitting it was time for Knit/Crochet Night (let’s just say I was less energetic than usual) – we had 16 ladies and a new person who used to be one of my bosses when I worked at the Telephone Company over 34 years ago! Good evening!

Along with everything else comes Easter dinner preparations; THIS year we have a new ‘fluke’ – middle son’s new girlfriend is a Vegan – that means NO meats, no animal anything (not even eggs), and no dairy . . . that makes for some difficult menu planning, to say the least. In my little neighborhood we just got a small new Middle Eastern restaurant. I went over their menu selections & even called to ask questions (No, they won’t be open Easter BUT they’re open Saturday). I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to BUY 2 vegetarian dishes for her: Vegetarian Mujaddara (rice & lentils pilaf with caramelized onions) and a Falafel Plate (a deep-fried ball/doughnut or pattie made from ground chick peas, fava beans or both). My oldest son (the chef) is making ham & some other kind of meat and said he would prepare his version of a quinoa salad (very good). My thoughts are: she will have fresh veggies & the 2 veggie dishes – hopefully that will be enough. I’m also bringing garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, some kind of sweet potatoes and some dessert(s) – the other grandma is doing all the appetizers (and, believe me, she does TONS!). I love all her choices (EXCEPT they are all containing cheeses or milk products, etc.). For a minute I really thought I had a great idea: make deviled eggs! Then it hit me: NO EGGS! UGH! I don’t know yet whether she’s vegan because of a medical condition OR just by choice – guess it really doesn’t matter except it makes a family dinner that much more difficult. (sorry – I’ll get off my soap box now . . .)

Weather-wise it’s been clear & nice, today
it’s in the 50’s with a slight breeze. (chance
of rain Easter Sunday).

Today was my “reward” for babysitting
yesterday – I took a friend out for her
birthday to Ruby Tuesday’s – I had a
nice chicken salad (enough to bring half
home for later!). Afterwards I wandered
over to the Salvation Army store and
bought a really nice/fancy/dress top:
black, short sleeves with silver sparkles
all over it. No, it’s not something I
would normally purchase but after
looking at it for awhile, decided it
would be the perfect thing to wear
with my long black skirt for a wedding
or other formal affair – price? $6.99!
SCORE! AND – to add to that, today
was their Seniors Day so I got an
extra 25% off my purchase! After
that I went to our local Kroger
Gas Station because I had 50 cents
off per gallon on their gas (due to
my shopping Kroger lately) – that
was another SCORE! Gas here is down
just a little to $2.43/9 a gallon so getting
50 cents off that per gallon was REALLY
nice!

I still have some grocery shopping to do,
hopefully Friday (I know – LOTS of people
will be in the stores then) but want to
avoid the REALLY BIG rush on Saturday.

Looking at the calendar – Easter will be here very soon! For some of you it means new Easter outfits or Easter baskets – for me it means church, singing Easter songs and dinner with the family. Our oldest (the chef) was over last night and we were discussing IF we were doing a family dinner at his house this year. He said this will be the very FIRST time he’s ever had Easter off – every other restaurant/place he’s worked they’ve done an Easter brunch – at his hotel they are not doing that so he’s OFF! Not sure yet on time of dinner/who’s bringing what but now I need to hone my Easter ‘sides’ recipes. I’ve been gleaning some for you and I’m sure there will be more to come.

This week is Spring Break for our schools
which means my 10 yr. old grandson is
off, also. He spent the day here yesterday
and will be back Friday. We spent the day
watching ‘goofy’ kid shows, visiting our
local library and reading – he’s into Percy
Jackson books now and I’m really glad
he’s become a ‘reader’. My husband &
I both love to read and I’m SO glad my
grandson does, too-such a great way to
expand your vocabulary!

Along with reading I’ve been working
on getting more baby blankets done.
Finished the Diagonal Box Stitch
blanket:

I’m almost half done with another knit
multi-colored blanket; this one is more
of a ‘girl’s’ colors one. I just love the
challenge of figuring out a new pattern
and then executing it.

Gas prices: they seem to be holding
(for now) at $2.39/9 – wonder if
they’ll go up before the holiday?

Newest grandson & his Momma are
currently sick with a virus – I stopped
by their house yesterday to pick up
oldest grandson and they both were
being ‘cared for’ by her Mom. Baby is
a bit cranky due to being sick; Momma
is trying her hardest to get better as
she goes back to work Friday. This will
be a new job at a new restaurant/bar.
Their friend & former neighbor is
revamping a local place and attempting
to upscale it to a more family-friendly
place. She will be the head bartender
& in charge of wait staff so you can
see why she needs to be feeling much
better by then! With her Mother &
myself we can pretty much hold up
the baby/grandson watching job so
we’ll see how this all goes.

With the next holiday/event being New Year’s Eve, thought I might just do a Appetizers & Dips post. You will see that most of these are from a really GREAT site: www.mrfood.com you can find just about any recipe you can dream up – great site!

Our weather is still OK – a little overcast
but with yesterday’s warm temperatures
MOST of our snow has melted – YAY! Roads
are clear – they ARE saying possibility
of snow flurries tonight – sure hope they
don’t stick!

With the ‘free time’ between holidays
finished the grey/black/white scarf and
started on another pink baby blanket.
While working on that I thought: “Maybe
I should do another scarf” so found
some nice, soft Sage colored yarn & am
variegating it with white to make a
(probably young girl) scarf – both scarf
& blanket are relatively easy patterns, so
not so much stress when working on
them.

Since the Christmas dinner at our
son’s house, we have lots of SIDES
but NO MEAT to go with them so
I put a big chicken in the crockpot
for dinner tonight. Lots of mashed
potatoes, glazed carrots, green
bean casserole & 3-bean salad
(plus rolls). Don’t know about
your house, but here we are
inundated with SWEETS! That
is usually NOT the case, but this
year there’s a ton of cookies &
some candy – tasty but really
hard to walk by and not grab!
(I’ll personally be glad when
they are gone! TOO TEMPTING
for me!)

Ah, the “DAY AFTER” Christmas! A time to RELAX and recall the happenings of yesterday. Hopefully yours were GREAT! My dear friend Mary (Momma) wrote that she hoped my dinner preparations came out well due to her picking up on my rather worried posting – she wasn’t far from wrong. I managed to put the green bean casserole in the oven after dusting the top with extra French Onions – just to broil a bit…you guessed it: burned the top! Managed to scrape them off and save the casserole – Whew! Saturday I was making the cake early – got it baked and went into my cupboard, pulled down the tub of frosting only to discover CREAM CHEESE (white) frosting, not the chocolate fudge I’d hoped for – what to do? Well, I remembered reading somewhere that you can make frosting using chocolate chips so printed out a recipe, worked on it – recipe says stir until cool – yeah, right! IF you have a few DAYS to do that! I stirred for almost a half hour before decided this was NOT a good idea! Remembered another trick I’d read somewhere so filled a bowl with ice cubes & immersed the hot pan in it, continued stirring which finally cooled down the frosting. In the meantime, I did a ‘brilliant’ move: decided to test the temperature of frosting (on a spoon) using my tongue – you guessed it, half my tongue got a major burn, can’t taste or feel tastebuds on that side!. Finally got frosting cooled, spread on cake (a not-desired consistency, hard to spread – kept almost melting off cake). Well – it tasted OK – a bit grainy – never had frosting grainy before . . . they ate it and said it was OK…Oh well, I tried! Made the glazed carrots – they, too, were OK…nothing special to write home about, for sure – not a ‘repeat next year’. Let’s just say we had TONS of food – everyone ate and were filled (mistakes included).

We had ‘almost’ our entire family there – youngest son said he might be a bit late, then texted he couldn’t come, something came up. Turns out the mother of a close friend of his died a few days earlier and friend had NO family here (Dad died several years ago, siblings are in other states) so my youngest decided to spend the evening with his friend – they went to eat at a Chinese restaurant! No photos were taken (missed taking them at Thanksgiving, too) – we had a good evening, lots of food & fun; what more can you ask for? We were blessed.

If sauce is too thin after cooking,
it can be transferred to a saucepan
& brought to a boil 3-5 minutes
while whisking in additional
cornstarch & water (cornstarch &
water in equal amounts) until
desired thickness is reached.

Woke up to 46 degrees F. weather
and very dense FOG! WOW! Who
would have thought that here in
Michigan it would get this WARM
at this time of year!? They were
originally calling for snow soon,
but now looking at the forecast,
it’s mostly cloudy with some small
spots of rain – GREAT!

Gas prices are still staying at
$2.39/9 guess that’s OK, I still
like it a bit lower, but that’s just me.

Not much else new – no particular
plans for the day, or actually –
for the week! My knit group is off
this week as well as my special
needs group: that makes me aLady of Leisure! Was chatting with
oldest son’s girlfriend & her Mom –
they’re planning on hitting the stores
today for 70 % sales…NOT ME! I
remember one year when we were
first married my Mother in Law
bought my brother in law (who
lived in Florida) several pairs of
jeans for Christmas – they didn’t
fit and GUESS WHO had to take
them back to the store AFTER
Christmas! UGH! I promised
myself then that NEVER AGAIN
would I go to stores after the
holidays (grocery, drug, hardware,
stores Yes, but no clothing or
big ticket stores like Kohl’s,
JC Penney’s, Bed/Bath & Beyond,
etc. – just TOO CRAZY for me!
I told my family AMAZON PRIME
has become my best friend this
year!

Middle son opened his presents
and there was a new tie for him –
he said: “Mom! ANOTHER tie?
Thanks, but this can be my last
tie for awhile” I told him: “Just
wait – your birthday is in a week!”
(hehe, he’s getting TWO more ties
then!). Hey, they all coordinate
with his work uniform (Hilton
Hotel front desk clerk: Navy
blue blazer, light blue shirt,
(tie), tan slacks. (Honestly,
don’t know who came up with
that color combination for
a ‘uniform’ but – it’s a job.
Doesn’t look BAD, just could
be a little more color coordinated,
in my humble opinion.

Well, friends, time for me to get
my rather tired buttocks off this
chair and go DO something! Have
about 8 rows left on black/gray &
white scarf then that’s done. Want
to start a new pattern for another
donated baby blanket – just haven’t
quite found a pattern that ‘speaks
to me’ – if you know what I mean.

Finally finished up decorating the main tree, the lights around the fireplace & secretary AND got the presents wrapped – YAY! Only things left to do are bake a few things tomorrow & throw together (my first, ever) 3-Bean Salad (it has to marinate at least 12 hours) – those things are for Saturday. Sunday is church at 10:30 (have to be there at 10 a.m. for choir practice) then dinner at son’s house (time has not yet been decided). It feels GOOD to finally be ahead of schedule. Ran out to the store today for a few essentials: bread & eggs; came home with bananas, 2 boxes of ginger cookies, a small box of glazed donuts (the guys go through them like water), 3 bars of bath soap, 2 containers of hand soap – just a ‘few’things – hehehe

24 oz. white chocolate chips
1 box peppermint candy canes,
unwrapped
–
Place one gallon-sized ziplock bag inside
another 1 gallon ziplock bag (so you have
a double bag). Place candy canes in bag(s);
zip up, removing most of air. Using a rubber
mallet, hammer or end of a rolling pin,
crush candy canes until you have a nice
mixture of small chunks & candy cane dust.
(Line crockpot with liner if you want to
use one)
Pour both bags of white chocolate chips
into crockpot (NOTE: DO NOT spray
insides of crockpot with nonstick spray.)
Cover & cook on Low 1 hour until chips
are melted enough that when stirred
they turn smooth. Be careful not to
overcook, as white chocolate chips
will burn. Line a large rimmed cookie
sheet with waxed or parchment paper.
Pour half of crushed candy canes into
melted white chocolate & stir until
well mixed & candy canes are covered
with melted white chocolate. Pour
melted white chocolate & candy cane
mixture into center or prepared cookie
sheet. Working quickly, spread candy
cane mixture evenly on cookie sheet
using a spatula, making sure there is no
overly thick or thin areas. Sprinkle
remaining candy cane pieces evenly
over top. Let candy harden at room
temp. a few hours (you can speed it
up by placing sheet in fridge). Flip
candy bark out of cookie sheet & peel
off paper; break bark into pieces. Store
in air tight container or package for
gift giving. Serves 15

NOTE: You can also use a food processor
to crush candy canes, being careful to
not over process – otherwise you end up
with just candy cane dust – with very few
little chunks

(recipe: crockpotladies.com)
————————————

Crockpot Cashew Candy Clusters

24 oz. dry roasted cashews(can use
peanuts)
4 oz. unsweetened dark baking
chocolate, broken into pieces
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 lb. vanilla almond bark broken
into as small of pieces as you can
1 tsp. vanilla
–
(recipe best made in a 5 qt or
larger crockpot for easier stirring)
Spray insides of crockpot with
nonstick spray. Place cashews in
bottom of crockpot. Next a layer
of broken up dark chocolate &
chocolate chips. On top white
almond bark pieces. Cover &
cook on Low first hour, stirring
every 15 minutes using a spatula
or wooden spoon* After first hour,
stir every 30 minutes. When it starts
mixing really well but not quite all
melted, add vanilla & stir in well.
This can take 2-3 hours, depending
on how warm your crockpot gets.
(unless you are using a much older
first generation crockpot, skipping
the stirring process will result in
burnt cashews & chocolate.
After all is mixed well & smooth,
spoon out into empty cupcake
liners. Refrigerate until ready to
serve. Serves 4

*If you have a Warm feature on
your crockpot, cook on Warm for
the first 3 hours then just let it
melt as it won’t scorch before
stirring

NOTE: You can change up recipe
by adding pretzel bits, dry cereal,
different nuts or marshmallows at
very end as you are spooning
mixture into cups.

Since you know I can’t just sit with nothing
to work on, have started (don’t remember
if I posted this one or not yet) a men’s
(homeless) scarf using some of the yarn
that was in that HUGE donation I posted
a few days ago. It’s about 3/4 ths done now;
it’s an easy stitch so it goes fast:

The scarf starts out with a kind of

shiny dark charcoal, then goes to
white & gray – will end with the
dark charcoal. It doesn’t photograph
well – looks better in person.

Looking at all that yarn got me ‘desiring’
to crochet something. I’m only a beginner
when it comes to crochet, but wanted to
start a baby blanket using some of the
donated yarns. There were about 5 skeins
of this teal blue, decided to combine it
with white – reminds me of the colors
that were featured in the movie “Frozen”
(I didn’t see the movie, but saw all the
promotions/items featuring those two
colors together). I looked up a really
simple pattern, did 3 rows (in teal) and
decided it was rather boring looking so
then looked up another pattern – ended
up combining the two. The original
pattern called for casting on 61 stitches
for a baby blanket – well, that wasn’t
a good idea (too small) – I had already
done a good 10 rows before deciding
I’m just going to finish it then make a
wide teal & white border around it
to make it bigger – that should work.
(this one will be for Crisis Pregnancy
Center):

The white stitches don’t show
up very well – they sort of look like
stars.

Hope you are happy with all of your
holiday preparations – don’t let them
BOG YOU DOWN! Take things a little
at a time – EVEN if that means that
some things just won’t get/be done!
I made the executive decision years
ago to no longer send Christmas
cards – I used to stress over it TOO
MUCH! The same decision came this
year about baking tons of cookies –
too much stress/too many calories!
I’m much happier for both decisions –
less stress makes a happier Pammie!

Yesterday at church a friend gave me 3 boxes and 3 big bags full of yarn – she was helping her friend get rid of her mom’s stuff. Not a great photo (I accidentally deleted the good one) but you get the idea. There is one huge bag full of SETS of yarn – like 9-12 big skeins of BRIGHT ORANGE (have no idea what you’d make with that) – I took enough to make 2-3 baby blankets and some scarves; the rest will go to the Knit group January 17th for our Yarn Swap. In amidst the yarns I found a kind of neat scarf – it wasn’t finished (not exactly sure what the creator’s “method” was for doing it – TONS of ends sticking out and LOOPS! Crazy! Took me awhile to get it together & finish it (had a good photo of ‘before’ too, but deleted it…ooops). Here’s the finished product – it will make a nice man’s scarf for the homeless: (it’s folded up in photo)

Sunday was our choir’s Christmas program and I was very happy to be able to participate – you see, Saturday night after practice (around 8:30 p.m.) I walked out of church, being VERY careful of where/how I was walking when my feet went totally out from under me and I fell flat on my back. Never before have I experienced having the wind knocked out of me – that’s scary! I couldn’t breathe! My friend saw the whole thing and was yelling across the parking lot: “Pam! ARE YOU OK?” I couldn’t speak OR breathe – my brain kept saying: “Roll OVER, you IDIOT! Suck in some air!” so I did – took a few minutes but was able to sit up. Two guys from choir came over to help me stand, one walked me to the car. My first thought was: “OH NO! My scoliosis! WHAT did just do to my back!?” but it was OK – two days later I’m still a little stiff & sore; apparently I also hit my elbow as it’s a little sore BUT NOTHING’S BROKEN! PRAISE THE LORD! It was one of those freak things: I had boots on, I was VERY careful how I was walking – I remember thinking: “OK – TINY, BABY…steps – OOOOOOOooooo, falling – this is gonna hurt when I hit!” My friend was freaking out – she thought I had a concussion – I hit my head, but not hard at all. AH, the FUN of getting older, eh? Another friend in my Sunday School class (same age as me) fell last week & broke her leg; she thought it was her knee, but her husband said: “No, you broke your tibia!” (bone that runs from kneecap to foot, in front). Been taking it easy since after church yesterday – nothing on my agenda, per se, until tomorrow night’s Knit/Crochet night. The second tree is still not up, nor the lights but if that’s all we have – it’s STILL OK!

I’m still trying to figure out the
‘sides’/foods for Christmas dinner –
so far not so much luck. (I do better
if I don’t think someone is double-
guessing my choices . . . sigh). I know
it will all be great and there will be
more than enough to feed all nine
of us so I shouldn’t worry…just me,
I guess.

Our weather has been getting
much colder BUT no snow (so far); it’s
a ‘balmy’ 15 with a wind chill that
makes it feel like 3 degrees F above
zero – fun! The sun is out, the roads
are clear so for those who want to
go out, it’s great driving weather!
I’m going to wait another day or so
before venturing far – still a little
achy and don’t want to ‘push it’.

Hope you all stay SAFE and WARM;

Hugs;

Pammie

PS: Noticed gas prices went up a tiny bit,
from $2.19/9 to $2.21/9 – not too
bad considering we’re into the last
week of HOLIDAY shopping, etc.

Well, they weren’t wrong in predicting more snow for my area – another 2+ (was supposed to be 5, so I’m not too upset). Ended up calling our plow guy to ask him to do our drive, even though it’s not much snow – since we live ON a major highway the bottom of our drive is piled up with frozen ice/snow to where (if you have a small car) you might not make it UP the drive (just enough of a slope to where you need a ‘running start’ to get up it, with snow/ice involved. It’s about 25 degrees F out now with later predictions of freezing drizzle & light snow during the night – GREAT! I have choir practice from 6-8 p.m. tonight (NO chance of missing this one – tomorrow morning is the program!).

FINALLY finished the blue/green baby blanket – yes, people like it but the yarn makes the knitter a bit ‘blind’ if worked on too long – it’s a bit BRIGHT!

Brought out some more donated yarn (white & a federal slate blue) and started another (homeless) scarf – worked about 6 inches & decided it was too wide to be able to make a decent length before running out of yarn so started it again, narrower. Still wasn’t happy with the yarn – too scratchy so decided to dump that project and wait until tomorrow when I’m supposed to get 2 boxes & several BAGS of yarn (& some crochet things) from a lady at church. Sometimes just seeing new yarn gives me inspiration – we’ll see. (Next project will be another scarf – think I mentioned that last post).

24 oz. dry roasted cashews(can use
peanuts)
4 oz. unsweetened dark baking
chocolate, broken into pieces
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 lb. vanilla almond bark broken
into as small of pieces as you can
1 tsp. vanilla
–
(recipe best made in a 5 qt or
larger crockpot for easier stirring)
Spray insides of crockpot with
nonstick spray. Place cashews in
bottom of crockpot. Next a layer
of broken up dark chocolate &
chocolate chips. On top white
almond bark pieces. Cover &
cook on Low first hour, stirring
every 15 minutes using a spatula
or wooden spoon* After first hour,
stir every 30 minutes. When it starts
mixing really well but not quite all
melted, add vanilla & stir in well.
This can take 2-3 hours, depending
on how warm your crockpot gets.
(unless you are using a much older
first generation crockpot, skipping
the stirring process will result in
burnt cashews & chocolate.
After all is mixed well & smooth,
spoon out into empty cupcake
liners. Refrigerate until ready to
serve. Serves 4
*If you have a Warm feature on
your crockpot, cook on Warm for
the first 3 hours then just let it
melt as it won’t scorch before
stirring
NOTE: You can change up recipe
by adding pretzel bits, dry cereal,
different nuts or marshmallows at
very end as you are spooning
mixture into cups.
(recipe: crockpotladies.com)

==================

On the ‘getting it done’ front, finally have
one small fiber-optic up & lit, brought
down the rest of the Christmas ‘stuff’ –
good thing I went back up – forgot to
bring down the TOP of the tree! (it’s in
sections). Maybe between tomorrow &
Monday I’ll get the rest up (bigger tree
& lights on fireplace & secretary). We’ll
see … Paperwork-wise, I’m good – got
the new calendar finished & printed for
the knit group (Tues), remembered to
call Panera Monday to order 3 dozen
of their mini-chocolate chip cookies
(every year I get those along with some
small candy bars & put them on trays
for the knit group (my Christmas present
to them), got thank you cards done for
those in the special needs group who
gave me presents (they always want me
to open them BEFORE Christmas!) – it’s
coming together. Had an epiphany while
knitting: Mother of baby-to-be and her
Mom will be experimenting with baking
cookies & candy Monday (baby Mama
doesn’t cook) so I was thinking about
that; found a really nice wooden recipe
box with dividers & recipe cards on
Amazon – it’s ‘on it’s way before
Christmas’. I was texting with the other
grandma and we were mentioning
favorite cookie recipes – apparently
I have some she’s never heard of SOoooo
I thought: I’ll write some of them out
on some of the recipe cards & add
them to the recipe box! SCORE! I
love when a present idea hits –
especially when it’s an easy-to-
achieve one!

Not much else going on, trying to
conserve energies for later when
‘battling’ the snow & roads going
to & from church tonight. Sure hope
tomorrow mornings roads are clear!

Stay warm, drink a little something
you like (cocoa/tea/smoothie?) and
take a little time for yourself. It’s a
crazy time of year and we tend to
OVER-DO to the point where we’re
too exhausted to have any fun,
ourselves. (I know I’m guilty of that-
big time!).

Watching the weather report last night made us just want to go to bed and not get up! Between today and Sunday night we’re supposed to get between 6-7 inches of the white stuff. Tomorrow is CHURCH! We always go to church! Well, it will be ‘get up & see what we’ve got to deal with’. Middle son left last night for a weekend gaming tournament – a good 1 1/2 hours away – REALLY hope he thinks about coming back home before Sunday night! Living in Michigan makes you think long & hard about where you have to go, traveling conditions, traffic, etc.

Today is one of those “What do I do FIRST?” days;
there are three rather ‘pressing’ things I SHOULD
be doing: (1) get those 2 spa cloths knit, (2) work
on completing the next newsletter for my group
in time to email it to the church so they can get
it printed up, so I can drive there/pick them up/
staple together/fold/put some in envelopes &
mail BEFORE January 4th which will be our first
meeting of the new year (3) finish buying presents
hopefully BEFORE we get too much snow to
travel in safely…those are the ‘weighing on my
brain things’ today. And where do you find me
when all that needs doing? Perusing my emails,
reading Facebook posts and then deciding to
make a post to you! Yep, I’ve officially joined
the PROCRASTINATORS OF AMERICA Guild!
Also still tossing around which ‘sides’ will go
well with the Christmas dinner! Oldest son
is preparing either Prime Rib or Roast Pork
Loin (or both, he hasn’t decided yet) – other
grandmother & I are doing the sides &
desserts. I asked son if he would prepare
his (fantastically tasty) grilled asparagus;
along with that I’m thinking glazed carrots,
twice-baked/stuffed potatoes, maybe some
kind of cold salad/jello thing?, rolls. The
other grandma makes great appetizers, so
that’s what she’s doing; I’m doing the desserts.
For starters: our family tradition: a big dark
chocolate cake:

along with French vanilla ice cream.
Might come up with one more dessert,
maybe something not quite as sweet?
Haven’t decided yet. The Birthday cake
is usually round, but that year I found
my old heart-shaped pans and went
with that. I make it as a devil’s food
cake & add extra strong coffee as the
liquid (brings out the chocolate flavor).

Well, my dears, the day is swiftly passing
and I’m no closer to getting any of my
objectives accomplished. Think I’ll sign
off here and start on the the newsletter.